It’s been quite a while since I read any Zenescope titles. Not really sure why. Anyway, their take on fairy tales should appeal to anyone who enjoys Grimm, Once Upon A Time and other such TV series, not to mention similar novels and other comics. Anyway. In a press release I received today, I saw the image below. That is one scary-ass Tooth Fairy…
The cover is by Giuseppe Cafaro (this is the B Variant).
I posted some teaser images for this upcoming comics event a little while back, but Zenescope recently unveiled some new artwork. This time, it’s the complete, interlinked cover art for the first five comics in the event: Werewolves – The Hunger #1, Vampires – The Eternal #1, Hunters – The Shadowlands #1, Demons – The Unseen #1, and Zombies – The Cursed #1:
It should en-biggen when clicked on…
Zenescope Entertainment, the publisher of Grimm Fairy Tales and Wonderland hit comic series (among many others) has announced its plans for an upcoming, major cross-title event, “UNLEASHED”. This is, I believe, their first since The Dream Eater Saga (which I actually have, but keep forgetting to read…)
The event will be spread across six separate mini-series, clocking in at a total of 24 issues (including some “oversized” issues), and the story will tie directly into Zenescope’s popular Grimm Fairy Tales Universe (or “GU” for short). In true Zenescope style, the story focuses on reinterpretations of classic horror monsters and myths, and will be told from the perspective of their hunters.
As part of my new approach to individual issues, here’s my round-up of recent Zenescope titles of note. It’s a pretty busy season for the publisher and the Grimm Universe, with a lot of connected stories unfolding (the various Wonderland-related titles, the Grimm Fairy Tale titles) and also some stand-alone series continuing, nearing conclusion, or coming to their ends.
Overall, this is a decent selection of issues, with only a couple of them suffering from Zenescope’s usual pitfalls (cliché or canned dialogue, telegraphing issues, and of course artwork that makes even Catwoman look demure and realistic… – and yes, I have a lot of comments like this throughout this post). That being said, three of them are certainly among the best I’ve read from Zenescope. As a whole, though, I find myself becoming more frustrated with the increased rate of cross-over that doesn’t align chronologically and actually offers up spoilers. I think the publisher will need to take a look at this in the future, in order to not annoy their readers.
Reviewed: Bad Girls #2, Godstorm #0, Grimm Fairy Tales #76 & 77, Irresistible #2 & 3, Jungle Book #5, Myths & Legends #19 & 20, Waking: Dreams End #4, Wonderland #2, Call of Wonderland #3 & 4
Undeveloped & Sadly Cliché
Writer: Ralph Tedesco | Artist: Gabriel Rearte | Colours: Jason Embury, Milen Parvanov
Grace is lost and restless in a big city where her nightmares seem all too real. Suffering from a form of amnesia, she only feels empty and confused.
Her therapist overmedicates, her boss sexually harasses her and her boyfriend beats her. The world is quickly closing in around Grace but when she learns the truth of her past she might just find the power within to redeem her life and battle her demons, no matter how real they might be.
I’ve been meaning to read this for a little while, now, and I finally decided to give it a go. I’m of two minds about what I thought – it has an interesting premise, one that is by-now typical of Zenescope’s output, but it suffers from weak characters and very weak dialogue and writing, not to mention ticking off almost every cliché of single-white-female-lost-in-the-big-city stories in the first chapter (thankfully they go away, and the story starts ticking off all the sarcastic-ass-kickin’-heroine clichés). To keep things interesting, Tedesco has thrown in some pretty weird stuff, and I did think the portrayal of Hell was rather well done.
A smaller selection this week, and a pleasantly varied one yet again – some horror, off-beat thriller (with an alien), some ninja-military action, and a pair of Star Wars adventures. I’m not entirely impressed with all the issues (in fact, I only really liked two of them, while each of the others fell slightly short of meeting my expectations).
Reviewed: Bad Girls #1, B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth – Exorcism #2, Resident Alien #3, Snake Eyes #15, Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett Is Dead #4, Star Wars: Darth Maul – Death Sentence #1
Things are finally getting back to normal after the terrible (comparatively short) era in which a Virus Ate My Computer. This means the weekly comics round-ups should start appearing as before (except for the occasional week when nothing available catches my eye). And this week, it’s a rather nice mix.
Reviewed: Cobra #15, Danger Girl & G.I.Joe #1, Extermination #2, Grimm Fairy Tales #75, GFT – Myths & Legends #18, Irresistible #1, Jungle Book #4, Star Wars: Darth Vader & the Ghost Prison #3, Wonderland Annual, Wonderland #1
Another post in which I catch up with a selection of releases from a specific publisher. Zenescope produce some of the more interesting comic adaptations and twists on fairy tales and folklore. They don’t always work perfectly, but some of these series have really grown into their own, offering up some intriguing interpretations. I’m also particularly intrigued by the start of the “new” Grimm Universe, as laid out in the Annual and Angel #1. Things look like they are about to get really interesting for Zenescope’s titles…
Reviewed: Call of Wonderland #2, Grimm Fairy Tales #74, GFT: Angel, GFT: Annual 2012, GFT: Myths & Legends #17, Jungle Books #3, Waking Dead: Dream’s End #2
Another busy week – with some new series and also the end to one of my favourites. There were also some surprisingly good issues, too – not because I was expecting bad issues necessarily, but they just exceeded my expectations.
Reviewed: Catwoman #9, Cobra #13, Grimm Fairy Tales #72 & #73, Guild Fawkes (One-Shot), Irredeemable #37, Justice League #9, Magic: The Gathering #4, Mind MGMT #1, Neverland: Hook #5, Nightwing #9, Resident Alien #1, Smoke & Mirrors #3, Star Wars: Darth Vader & the Ghost Prison #1, Wolverine & the X-Men #9
’tis the week of new debuts!
Some of these have been highly anticipated for a while, ever since DC announced the second wave of New 52 titles, and ever since Dynamite announced the return of The Spider. Some issues I thought were meant to be out this week actually weren’t, so I think I’ll probably get them next week – Mind the Gap and Fury Max are the two titles in mind. I decided against buying G.I.Combat, the other second-wave New 52 title released this week. I just didn’t think it looked very good. Perhaps I’ll try it at a later date (same goes for Action Comics #9). But probably not.
Reviewed: Batman: Dark Knight #8, Batman: Detective Comics #9, Dial H #1, Earth Two #1, Epic Kill #1, Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends #16, New Avengers #24, The Spider #1, Superman #8, World’s Finest #1
[Titles in Bold are my Picks of the Week.]
This turned out to be a longer post than anticipated, just because I was so slow about reviewing things on time – for a pleasant change, other commitments got in the way of my comics-reading this week. Better late than never, though, so read on for a bumper comics round-up! There were some great issues this week, too.
Reviewed: Alice #5, All-Star Western #8, AvX: VS #1, Catwoman #8, I Vampire #8, Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends #15, Justice League #8, Justice League Dark #8, New Deadwardians #2, The Portent #4, Road Rage #3, Snake Eyes #12, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #3
Zenescope Entertainment announced today that actress Lena Headey, star of HBO’s superb Game Of Thrones series, will be joining the Grimm Fairy Tales Animated Series, lending her voice talents for the series’ lead character, Sela Mathers.
A very good, diverse week of comics: spies, twisted fairy tales, undead kings, real American heroes, superheroes, and also zombies. Covers most of the bases.
Reviewed Herein: Danger Girl: Revolver #3, Fanboys vs. Zombies #1, G.I.Joe #12, Grimm Fairy Tales #71, Grimm Fairy Tales: April Fool’s Special 2012, Grimm Fairy Tales: The Library #5, Incorruptible #28, Infestation 2: 30 Days of Night, Supurbia #2, Valen the Outcast #5, The Waking: Dreams End #1, Wolverine & the X-Men #7
[Supurbia #2 review delayed until later in the week]
A great collection this week, as more of the DC New 52 move into their seventh month – Batman throws down with Bane, more 19th Century Gotham adventures, the rise of the Vampires, and Superman squares off against a new villain and troubles in his ‘day job’. A handful of Zenescope titles continue in fine form. Zombies in London. And Marvel’s series-spanning mega-event finally kicks off.
I’m going to be adding more images from the previews available for many of these issues, in order to give people a better idea of what the artwork is like – I’m starting to wonder if the limited vocabulary I have to accurately and appropriately describe some of the artists’ styles isn’t broad enough. So, a bit more of a work-in-progress, but I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do these round-ups.
Reviewed Herein: All-Star Western #7, Avengers vs. X-Men #0, Batman: Dark Knight #7, Grimm Fairy Tales #70, Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends #14, I Vampire #7, Jurassic Strike Force 5 #3, Justice League Dark #7, New Deadwardians #1, Superman #7
Zenescope Entertainment has announced the launch of the Grimm Fairy Tales Animated Series Kickstarter campaign. The proposed animated series of their flagship comics title will be directed by Jon Schnepp and produced by/with the Titmouse Inc. animation studio. The Kickstarter campaign has now been fully launched after its official announcement during the WonderCon Hollywood and Comics panel.
The campaign, which hope to raise the $175,000 needed to produce the pilot episode and the foundation materials necessary to continue the series, will run until May 1st, 2012.
Zenescope Entertainment President Joe Brusha had this to say:
“We believe that our Grimm Fairy Tales comic book series would make an excellent animated series, and we’ve been pitching the idea to the Hollywood big-wigs for years. They’ve said ‘There is too much Fairy Tales stuff out there’, or ‘No one wants to see a gritty, dark, modern take on the fairy tales.’ That’s where they’re wrong. We have tons of devoted fans that would love to see more of our series, and that is our chance and yours to make it happen.”
I do believe there is a market for this animated series, although one of the issues the ‘Hollywood big-wigs’ stated – “too much Fairy Tales stuff” at the moment – it actually true. I think Zenescope run the risk of being drowned out by TV series like Grim and Once Upon A Time, and the couple of Hollywood movies on the horizon that draw on Fairy Tales. If you’ve been reading any of my comics round-ups over the last few months, you’ll know that I’m a fan of the Grimm Fairy Tales series, so I will definitely be checking this out if it materialises. I do, however, think Zenescope will have to pull off something very special to be heard and noticed. At the same time, the “tons of devoted fans” Brusha mentions are definitely there, so it’s conceivable that this could end up being quite popular. As long as it doesn’t go the way of the Witchblade TV adaptation (based on a comic series with its own devoted fan-base), which sort-of sank with a bit of a sad squeak…
[At the time of writing, the project had $6,316 pledged from 49 backers.]
A later-than-intended round-up of some new and recent Zenescope releases. Alice’s weird-and-wonderful adventures in Wonderland continue; Sela’s troubles unfold in Grimm Fairy Tales as a nefarious plot comes closer to fruition; a brand new, intriguing adaptation and re-imagining of the Jungle Book; and an extension of an alternative Hook story.
Reviewed Herein: Alice #3, Grimm Fairy Tales #67-69, Jungle Book #1, Neverland: Hook #4
Today I bring you an eclectic bunch of comics. A lot of great ones, too: military action and adventure, a beastly retelling of a fairy tale, more superheroes-gone-bad, real housewives of superheroes, ninja turtles, and fantasy. This was a very enjoyable selection to read.
I’ll be doing another comics round-up later in the week, after I’m able to get hold of some new Marvel, DC, Vertigo, and Image comics (list at the end).
Reviewed herein: G.I.Joe #11, Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends #13, Irredeemable #35, Supurbia #1, Infestation 2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, Valen the Outcast #4
I’ve only recently started reading Zenescope titles and so far have been impressed with everything they have to offer. This is a big week, so I wanted to look at as many of the new releases as possible. This meant catching up with some of the shorter series (such hardship…!).
Reviewed herein: Alice #2, Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends #12, Grimm Fairy Tales: The Library #1-4, Jurassic Strike Force 5 #0-2, Neverland: Hook #1-3
Our favourite fairy tales, reimagined
Writer: Ralph Tedesco, Joe Tyler | Artist: H.G. Young
Red Riding Hood is forced to confront the insatiable hunger of a terrifying beast; Cinderella seeks a shocking vengeance for the years of torture she’s endured; Hansel and Gretel realise that the problems they left behind at home are nothing compared to the horror that awaits them on their ill-advised journey; a desperate girl makes a deal with the hideous Rumplestiltskin only to find she may lose much more than she ever imagined; Sleeping Beauty learns that narcissism can be a very gruesome trait to possess; and an envious sister finds her extreme measures to capture the man of her dreams may lead to much worse than just heartbreak from the Robber Bridegroom.
This is the first review in what I hope to be an on-going series, in which I take a look at the first collected volumes of established comic series (I’ve already reviewed Irredeemable and Incorruptible). This volume collects the first six issues in Zenescope’s ground-breaking series of alternative fables. The series has just hit its 59th issue, but it has also spawned a number of short spin-offs and parallel series (Wonderland being perhaps the most popular). I’m only slowly becoming familiar with the Grimm Fairy Tales line of comics, having read just the 2011 Holiday Special and the inaugural issue of their latest spin-off series, Alice.
Like the original fairy tales, each story has a message, and in this series the writers have altered them slightly to look at modern day, as well as classic issues – some of them were surprising and not at all what I’d been expecting. It’s an interesting series and, while flawed, it has a lot going for it and it’s not hard to see why it has managed to establish itself so well.
This week’s comics brought to you in the themes of Reformation and Reanimation!
This week I bring you reformed supervillains, a zombie apocalypse in New York City, a deadly movie theatre, and a fairy tale Christmas like no other… A nice eclectic mix, I think you’ll agree?
Reviewed herein: Incorruptible Vol.01, Key of Z #1-3, The Theater #1-3, Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Special 2011
